dehydrating

Dehydrating apples at home is easy and they are a great snack to keep on hand. You really don’t need a lot of equipment to dehydrate apples, in fact you can do it right in your kitchen’s oven. But I’ll go over 3 methods for dehydrating apples at home and you choose the one that works best for you! This article will cover making dehydrator apples in a food dehydrator, your oven or a Sun Oven.

Dehydrating Apples at Home

If you’ve never dried or dehydrated food, dehydrating apples is a good place to start. You won’t need a lot of ingredients and the steps are easy to follow.

Is it true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away?

Well I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist but apples do have some pretty awesome health benefits. According to my research apples can help with digestion, reduce pressure in blood vessels and are a great source of Vitamin C. But you’ll have to decide for yourself if the old saying is true.

Are dried apples as healthy as non-dried apples?

Well, they do offer you the same vitamins as fresh apples but less fiber per serving. It may take more dehydrated apples to fill you up so be careful, this healthy snack can be packed with a lot of natural sugars! Like most things, a little goes a long way.

Are dehydrated foods good for you?

It is probably better to choose the fresh variety when available but dried apples and other dried foods are portable and convenient. I love when I make my own dehydrated apples and snacks, I control the ingredients!

I like to take dehydrated foods that I’ve made on long walks and hikes too.

In my opinion dried apples, homemade beef jerky or any dehydrated snack that you make at home will certainly be better than anything from a drive through window or wrapper!

How to save lots of apples at home?

If you find a great deal on apples at your farmer’s market or wholesale store then dehydrating apples can be a great way to preserve a lot of apples at one time. Then you can eat and enjoy the apples for a lot longer! Of course canning apples is another great option if you have the space for mason jars in your pantry. See Canning Apples in Syrup and How to Can Apples for Baking

Tips for Dehydrating Apples

When I dehydrate apples I like to peel them, but you can leave the peel on. If you are going to dehydrate apples regularly I would recommend investing in a device to peel and core them apples for you. See Apple Peeler / Corer.

You can use any variety of apple but I have found that Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp and Granny Smith are my favorites.

No sugar or sweeteners needed!

Pre-soaking your apple slices in lemon juice will preserve the color better but it is optional.

It is important to make sure the apples are completely dehydrated or they can quickly mold.

You can bump up the flavor by sprinkling a little cinnamon on the slices before drying them.

How to Dry Apples in a Dehydrator

This is the most common way to dry apples, using a dehydrator and dehydrator trays. I have been using my Nesco Food Dehydrator for years but I do think it lacks the power of the Excalibur Food Dehydrator.If your budget allows, go for the Excalibur!

Easy Homemade Dehydrated Apples for Snacks

Ingredients

Instructions

Using a mandolin slicer make thin even slices of your apples (1/4 inch)

As you slice your apples place them in the lemon juice and water combination to keep them from browning. Don’t leave them in more than 5 minutes. (optional)

Shake off any access liquid before drying.

Sprinkle the slices with cinnamon just before placing them in the dehydrator (optional)

As you place your apple rings on your dehydrator trays make sure you are not crowding them – the air has to circulate to dry them properly.

Dehydrate at 135°F for 6 to 8 hours.

Apples are done when there is no moisture inside or out. They’ll feel dry to the touch and leathery. Test the inside by cutting one slice open to dryness. It should be like a dry sponge.

Let the apples sit and come to room temperature before storing.

Store in an air-tight container, food storage bags or mason jar.

Keep your dehydrated apples in a cool, dark area when storing.

They should stay good for several months, though we’ve never had to keep them that long because they get eaten fast!

How to Make Dehydrated Apples in an Oven

If a dehydrator is not in the budget right now or not available to you, you can make dried apples in your kitchen oven. You’ll follow the same directions through number 5 and then changes will need to be made.

Ingredients

Instructions

Using a mandolin slicer make thin even slices of your apples (1/4 inch)

As you slice your apples place them in the lemon juice and water combination to keep them from browning. Don’t leave them in more than 5 minutes. (optional)

Shake off any access liquid before drying.

Sprinkle the slices with cinnamon just before placing them in the oven (optional)

Place the apple slices on a wire baking sheet and place in the oven. I do not recommend putting them directly on your oven racks unless you give them a really good cleaning first.

Set on your oven’s lowest baking temperature and prop the oven door open to allow air to circulate.

Baking times will vary on your lowest temp, humidity, etc. But start checking at 5 hours in; they make take up to 8 hours.

Apples are done when there is no moisture inside or out. They’ll feel dry to the touch and leathery. Test the inside by cutting one slice open to dryness. It should be like a dry sponge.

Let the apples sit and come to room temperature before storing.

Store in an air-tight container, food storage bags or mason jar.

Keep your dehydrated apples in a cool, dark area when storing.

They should stay good for several months, though we’ve never had to keep them that long because they get eaten fast!

Dehydrating Apples in a Sun Oven

You can dehydrate apples in any solar oven but I think the Sun Oven is the best on the market. I use it to dehydrate, bake and roast! I love that this method uses no electricity too! Harness the power of the sun for cooking!

You’ll follow the first 5 basic steps in my recipe before using your dehydrating racks in the Sun Oven. This video explains dehydrating in the Sun Oven perfectly.

Recipes that Use Dehydrated Apples

Did you know you can also use dehydrated apples in some delicious recipes? Here are a few ideas for you!

How do you re-hydrated dried apples?

Fill the bowl up about 1/2 way with room temperature water (allow it to cool down if needed).

Put your dried apples slices in the room temp water and make sure they are all under the water.

Allow them to soak for about 30 minutes.

What are the best dried foods to make at home?

Well, of course, I think apples are the best dried food to make! Other dehydrated foods I like to make at home? I’d recommend bananas, beef jerky (homemade can have a lot less sugar), tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and potatoes.

How to preserve bananas for your pantry – you’ll be surprised at your options! I know that my family loves the sweet treat of bananas and when they are on sale I like to buy them in bulk. The only problem with bananas is how fast they can spoil – wasting food and money. But you have a lot of options when it comes to preserving your bananas for your pantry (and more).

So what exactly are the options for preserving bananas? You can actually choose from dehydrating, freeze drying, solar drying, freezing and even some great recipes to make that will be a perfect way to preserve bananas for the pantry. Whatever you choose, you no longer have to worry about buying extra or bulk bananas and them wasting away!

Bananas are a great source of potassium and are nature’s candy (so don’t over do it folks). They are perfect for smoothies, quick snacks and pick-me-ups in the afternoon. But I know most people avoid buying many at one time because they can go bad so quickly. Well I have 6 methods to preserve bananas that you can now employ!

How To Preserve Bananas For Your Pantry

Items to Consider for Preserving Bananas

Here are a few items you may want to have or invest in for preparing your bananas and preserving them.

A Banana Slicer This handy tool is less than 10 and will help you to quickly and evenly slice your bananas for all sorts of things. I like this banana slicer but there are many models to choose from.

Good ‘ol Plastic Wrap Have you ever seen bananas in the store that have their stems wrapped in plastic? This is actually a way to easily keep your bananas fresh longer by keeping ethylene gas from reaching other parts of the fruit and over-ripening it. See more about that here….

Some of you know that we are a homeschooling family; but we still enjoy the “back to school” fun! One thing I know is when school is back (public, private or home) life gets busier! It is important to have quick and healthy snack options. That’s why I love dehydrators! You can dehydrate home grown, organic, fruits and veggies right on your kitchen counter. You can even make your own fruit roll-ups without all the junk!

Even if you don’t have kiddos at home, you’re going to love this dehydrator!

There is not a better dehydrator on the market today than the Excalibur line! So we gathered a group of blogging friends and put this awesome fall giveaway together just for you – Excalibur 9 Tray Dehydrator with a timer!!!

With our summer harvest in full swing there couldn’t be a better time to start dehydrating. You’ll love it for back to school, at the office or on an errand run. Instead of grabbing packages of junk you can grab a baggie of something you know all the ingredients.

Fruits, veggies, meats and herbs – let’s get our dehydrate on!

If your name is chosen as the winner what would be the first items you would like to dehydrate? We would love to hear from you!…

Welcome back to another Green Thumb Thursday. This week my featured post is from Our Happy Acres. Dave has a lot of awesome projects on his happy acres and this garlic dehydration is no exception. I am going to have to give this a try with my next crop!

Topics

Footer

Recent Posts

Amazon Associates Disclosure

The Imperfectly Happy Home is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com